my travels in pixels

The Australian Accent Americans love our Aussie accent, they tell us all the time. Not that they can always understand us, sometimes it's the accent, sometimes it's just what we say, and we all have a big laugh. So where does our accent come from? The Aussie accent is quite unlike anything else in the world. New Zealanders and South Africans sound similar but slightly different. Even I need them to say a few sentences before I can ascertain which country they are from. It’s our vowels that stand out, like a kind of irritable vowel syndrome. In Australian TV shows a few decades ago, they used to embellish their Australian accent as they didn’t think they had one. On the other hand we have many Aussie actors in Hollywood who seem to be able to perfect the perfect American accent, so that even the Americans can’t pick them. Then there’s the way we play with words and cut them short. In the movie "my life in ruins", the Greek tourist guide says “the Australians ...

medium cube Packing Cubes I’ve often wondered how some people manage to travel with just a carry on – I think part of their secret must be packing cubes. Why are they so good? You will be amazed how much more you can fit into your suitcase using these cubes. They are made of lightweight material with mesh tops, so you can see what is inside them, but don’t add much weight to your overall luggage. An added bonus is that you don’t mess up your packing when you are just trying to get one item out. Some people have one cube for “bottoms”, one for “tops” and one for “underwear”. Others put whole outfits for each day in a separate cube if they are going away for a short time, so they only have to open one cube a day. There is a label when you buy them that says “Beware: Packing cubes can be addictive”. I don’t doubt it! Where do I buy them? I bought the eBags brand from Amazon as they had good reviews and use YKK zippers which are the best there is. They come in dif...

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico view from our rooftop terrace A year ago while spending winter on Vancouver Island in Canada, as the temperature dipped closer to zero and the clouds covered the sun, it wasn’t surprising that we started thinking about where we wanted to go for the following winter. One of my favourite TV channels is HGTV – Househunter’s International, Beach Flip, Income Property – I love them all. We saw an episode on two gays guys buying a condo down in sunny Puerto Vallarta Mexico. It looked very inviting, so we did a little research and decided that would be where we would spend the winter of 2016. the other 3 buildings in our complex of 26 condos I found a condo in the Romantica zone; Old Town which would give us the feel of Mexico, and booked it for mid Feb to mid April. Then we realised that we needed to be out of the USA for longer but we couldn’t extend where I had booked so we found another place, this time, south of town. Old town, all the streets a...